


HALF LIFE

by misschevalier



Series: home? [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/M, Halo au, M/M, RvB AU, i guess that works, kind off, tags are hard idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 22:24:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2205252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misschevalier/pseuds/misschevalier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>War was over and the only thing Ryan wanted to do is go home.</p>
<p>(Or all the broken promises Ryan and Geoff made to each other.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	HALF LIFE

**Author's Note:**

> Since I wrote [CONTACT](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2052189), I wanted to write another piece but in Ryan's point of view. This was supposed to be like a sequel but I guess this could be read as a stand alone. 
> 
> The title was inspired by Trocadero's [Half Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpWKul4iL-c) song, used in the teaser of S12 of Red vs Blue. ♥

“Aren’t you excited, Ryan? We are finally going back home.”

Home.

It’s been a long time since he cared about those words. Maybe it was because when he joined the UNSC, he didn’t expect to go back home. He thought that this war wasn’t going to be over anytime soon and, something that was on his mind a lot when he started in the Hunters outpost, was that he was going to die because of this war.

It seemed like the universe and the stars had planned differently for him.

He fought for peace and along the way he found himself experiencing new things, meeting new people, meeting people that now are close friends, seeing a lot of people die, killing a lot of people, meeting someone that was probably the most important thing in the whole fucking universe: Geoff.

So, the answer was yes.

“I am, Michael, thanks for asking.” Michael laughed softly at Ryan’s answer, bumping his shoulder with the elder’s. For the first time in a long time, neither of them had their armor on, instead their official uniform, and Ryan had the phantom feeling since he had grown used to the heavy weight of the armor on his body.

Ryan looked around the small ship that Command assigned them. Jack and Lindsay were talking, while Gavin and Ray were asleep with their heads pressed against the cold metal of their ship. Jeremy and Matt were looking out the window behind them. Kdin and Caleb were sitting in the front of their ship along their pilot and Kerry had decided that he wanted to ride with the Roosters.

“Are you excited?” Ryan asked back to Michael, who just looked lovingly at the redhead in front of them. She looked up and flashed them a smile before continuing her conversation with Jack.

“I’m pretty fucking excited,” he answered. “I’m going to propose to her when we get home because, god dammit Ryan, she’s perfect,” and Ryan couldn’t do anything else but smile widely at the younger man.

“You two deserve to be happy.”

“I say the same about you and the Boss,” Michael replied, looking up at Ryan, who just shrugged, both of them staring at the window that gave them the incredible and overwhelming look of the space, decorated with stars and planets and halos and ships that were following them.

Not a few minutes later, Kdin came to them and told them that they better be prepared, because in a few minutes they would be landing on the UNSC space station, for the first time since they left to the outpost. This… _thing_ wasn’t a station, Ryan thought, because it had the size of a small planet.

But he didn’t care about the details right now: he was going to see Geoff and finally, just finally, make their plans of settling down, together. (His heart skipped a bit for a moment and he tried to regain his composure, since he was the one who would be leading them down to their Captain.)

They were standing behind the ship’s back door, waiting for it to be opened at the order of the Fleet Admiral Matt Hullum. He could hear the commotion outside, people waiting for their loved ones, waiting for their soldiers to come back after war with open arms and ‘hellos’ that echoed ‘welcomes’.

The heard the indistinguishable sound of the door being open and Ryan had to close his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. Jack patted his shoulder and both of them gave the first step down to the docks, but…

There was a problem.

Ryan felt dizzy because he could hear laughs and cries of joy and, the sea of people in front of him were hugging and kissing and celebrating that the war was finally over, but there was no sign of their Captain.

There was no Geoff in front of their ship and Ryan felt as if someone just punched him in the stomach.

“Where’s Geoff?” he could hear Gavin asking behind him and, suddenly, all of them felt lost in the middle of the docks. They could see other teams hugging and joking with their own captains and superiors but Geoff wasn’t there.

Jack didn’t notice that Ryan ran down the bridge and walked to the ship next to them, locating Captain Burnie with ease. “Burnie!” Ryan screamed the other man’s name, and he didn’t care if other people thought it was disrespectful for him to no call him with his rank. “Burnie, where’s Geoff?”

Burnie received his team with love but when all of them heard Ryan’s voice screaming their captain’s name, they knew something was off. He looked around and noticed the Hunters’ team looking at them worryingly. “I don’t know. I thought he took the ship with you because I didn’t see him in the meeting.”

“No… he left a few hours before you did.”

“I- I really don’t know, Lieutenant.”

Ryan turned around and looking at his team, before shaking his head. He saw how they shared worried looks and Ryan felt himself drown on his thoughts. (Geoff broke his promise, he wasn’t going to come, he just left them, he didn’t care about them anymore, and he didn’t want to settle down, he-)

“Ryan,” Lindsay brought him back to reality, shaking his shoulders.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can you and Burnie go to talk to the Fleet Admiral?”

“Are you crazy? It’s the fucking Fleet Admiral, Tuggey.”

“Do you want to see Geoff again, Haywood? That’s your only way.”

Ryan felt as if the world shook around him and he only focused on Lindsay’s green eyes. What an idiot was he being; he wasn’t going to stay with his arm crossed on his chest like an asshole. If something had happened to Geoff, he wanted to be the first to know it and he was going to do everything in his hand (and out of it) to bring him back home.

“Yeah, of course,” he shook his head and ran back to the Roosters’ ship, hearing Lindsay’s voice shouting orders to their team, who just followed without asking twice what they had to do.

Ryan talked with Burnie, and he felt the man’s hand around his wrist, pulling him through the crowd of people and, suddenly, Ryan found himself in Hullum’s office. Burnie was sitting on a chair in front of the Admiral’s desk and Ryan couldn’t keep still, so he was walking down the room with his hands behind his back.

“Well, I thought you would be celebrating, Burnie,” and Hullum caught Ryan off guard, not expecting to hear such a smooth voice. Ryan got into position and saluted the superior with his hand on his temple. “Lieutenant Haywood, please rest.”

Ryan nodded softly, a bit surprised by the Admiral knowing his name, and stayed still while the Admiral walked down to hug Burnie, who had just got up from his chair. “Oh, Matt, I’d be celebrating if I could.”

“Why can’t you?” Matt asked, leaning on his own desk. Ryan was quite surprised by the interaction between Burnie and the Admiral, because it seemed like they were old friends.

Burnie looked at Ryan, who just nodded. “Uh, sir…”

“Please Haywood, drop the formalities,” the admiral told him, and Ryan felt his cheeks burn red.

“Yes, of course, Admiral Hullum… uh, Captain Ramsey from the Hunters Outpost- he’s, well, missing,” and the words rolled out of his tongue like it was poison. “He wasn’t on the docks to greet his team and I was informed that his ship never reached the station.”

“We want to know if you can help us, Matt,” Burnie added.

“Of course! Geoff is one of the best Captains I had on the UNSC in a long time and an old friend of mine. You have permission to find him, at all cost. You have the whole station at your disposition.” Hullum focused his look in Ryan, decided.

Ryan felt once again dizzy because he could hear the muffled celebration under them, while they were here on the Fleet Admiral’s office, with orders to find Geoff at all cost and the whole small planet sized station at their hand.

He closed his eyes for a moment and begged at the universe and the stars to be on their side.

He begged them to keep Geoff safe, whenever he was.

+

They found themselves on another room, were the superiors discussed their moves when they were in war but this time, filled with people. The whole Rooster and Hunters outpost was there, along with the Admiral and a few privates that were the best in locating missing ships and using the transmission systems.

Most of them were sitting on the floor; some of them on the small stairs while others were sitting on the chairs, trying to contact Captain Ramsey’s missing ship. Ryan, Jack and Lindsay were sitting on a row, all of them trying to find a frequency that could lead them to the emergency locator of the ship that Geoff was piloting not a few hours ago.

Barbara entered with Gus, both of them holding papers and devices with holograms of Geoff’s ship, along with his trajectory and all the information that they could get by themselves. Burnie and Matt were standing on the table, reading everything that came up to them.

Two, four, one and ten.

It’s been a while since Ryan had been sitting in front of this kind of communication system, and he almost jolted from his chair when he heard them once again. “I got something!” He heard Kara’s voice echoing through the metal room and he couldn’t help but gasp.

“Frequency?” He heard Lindsay’s voice beside him.

“7 dot 2 Foxtrot Mike. There are a few open lines, but nothing secure. Trying alpha line, please try searching other open lines,” she said, and all of them quickly changed to different frequencies. Ryan could hear someone typing furiously while he listened to the beeping and the silence that came to his headphones.

“We got signal but we can’t locate him. We need to make contact,” he heard Matt’s voice talking to them. “We’ll try all the open lines but if there’s no luck, we might need to do manual search around the Captain’s trajectory. Both Adams, please, prepare just in case.” Even when Matt was ordering the other man’s, his eyes glued to Ryan’s, and he only nod his head.

Suddenly the room that was filled with chatter was now a gentle silence, all of the soldiers eyes fixed on their screens. Ashley was one of the first to speak up to the radio. “Come in, Captain Ramsey. This is Command speaking, do you copy? What is your status? Over.”

“Try Bravo, Pattillo. Stay on the Alpha line just in case, Jenkins,” Burnie commanded, his hands on Ashley’s shoulders. She only nodded in silence.

“Captain Ramsey, this is Private Pattillo, from the Hunters Outpost. What’s your position, Captain? Over.” Once again, silence. “Bravo doesn’t work.”

“Trying Charlie,” Ryan announced, already a step forward. “Come in, Captain Ramsey, from the Hunters Outpost. This is Lieutenant Haywood speaking. Do you copy? What’s your position? Your team is waiting. Over.” Ryan thought he heard Gavin gasp when he said that his team was waiting, because, yeah maybe that was a low blow, but somehow, he knew that Geoff was listening to them.

He had to.

“Trying Echo,” Kara announced and Matt told her to try with the ship number. “Ship F-41 Broadsword, number 3-41, this is Command speaking. What is your position? We receive your radio signal but we can’t locate you, Captain, we might need more information. Over.”

The only thing that cut the silence in the room was the beeping and the desperate voices trying to reach Geoff. Burnie told Ashley to try once again on Alpha, but this time he talked, hands on the console. “Come in, Captain Ramsey. This is Captain Burnie Burns, from the Roosters Outpost, do you read us? What’s your status? You better not be joking about this one. Over.”

Ray wanted to laugh a little about the message because Geoff joked and did a lot of pranks to them when they were on the outpost. Joel looked at him with a sad smile, and pulled him closer to him.

(Both of them knew this wasn’t a joke.)

Burnie barked about trying on Juliet and Lindsay was the first one to be on the line. “This is Lieutenant Lindsay Tuggey, from the Hunters Outpost, Thugs division. Do you read me, Captain Ramsey? We lost signal of your ship, we need radio confirmation that you’re still in space. Over.”

“Do you think he’s still in space?” Gavin murmured to Michael, both of them sitting together. Kerry and Miles leaned over to look at him and shrugged, along with Michael.

“I don’t know Gav,” was all Michael could get out before Matt told Kara to put him on the Romeo line.

“Captain Geoff Lazer Ramsey, from the Hunters Outpost; soldier number 1.241.018.309-G, do you copy? This is The United Nations Space Command speaking. Over.” Ryan looked at him, and noticed how the man knew the number as if it was the back of his hand and he wondered if he knew Burnie’s as well.

“There are only two lines open, sir, the others don’t get answer from the Captain,” Kara informed the Admiral, but the information was like a splash of cold water to everyone else. Everyone knew what that meant: if neither of the two lines got response, it was almost impossible to know where Captain Ramsey was.

Ashley tried on the Delta line and talked slowly. “Come in, Captain Ramsey. This is Command speaking, do you read us? Over.” Burnie took a deep breath and rubbed his face, and when he noticed the two girls beside him already changing lines, he stopped them.

“Haywood.” Burnie’s call was all Ryan needed, and he changed to the last line: Whiskey. He smiled to himself when he was met by static and he closed his eyes, trying to maintain a straight face while he talked.

Right now, he didn’t care about formalities or protocol, so he opened his mouth and muttered a “Captain Ramsey, are you okay? …This is the Lieutenant Haywood, from the Hunters outpost speaking.” Ryan’s voice cracked, feeling the tears falling from his cheeks.

Suddenly, the static was cut and everything went in silence.

“Are you listening, Geoff?”

Then, nothing.

That was it.

There was no more lines.

Ryan bit his lip and left his head fall on his hands, trying his hard to not sob and cry in front of everyone. He just wanted to punch the console in front of him, scream at it why it wasn’t working, what they did wrong? Ryan knew that manual search wasn’t accurate, and it was unlikely to find where Geoff’s ship was.

The space was incredibly big.

Geoff could be anywhere.

For Ryan, it’s was like if they lost the war.

Now, there was no home, no settling down, no Geoff.

Nothing.

Everyone else in the room started getting up, thinking that the Hunters may need a little time alone, but they stopped when they heard the beeping stop and the words CONTACT blinking on the screen.

“I’m listening, Ryan.”

Ryan gasped, looking up at the control panel. “Geoff?” He knew he sounded so broken, because he thought he wouldn’t get to see his captain once again. He shook his head and he pressed the button in front of him. “Geoff, do you read me? Where are you?”

“Yeah, I read you. I’m on paradise babe, don’t worry.”

Burnie let out a raspy laugh, and smiled at himself, because Geoff could be the one in the middle of an emergency but stay smooth as always.

“Changing line from Delta to Whiskey,” Ashley informed with a smile on her face.

Ryan shook his head, once again resting it on his hands. Geoff was alive. He felt a hand patting his shoulder and he noticed Jack smiling at him, as if he was saying that everything was going to be all right.

“Good to hear you’re fine, Captain. Care to share your status with us?” Matt talked to his friend, and when Ryan heard Geoff’s laugh in response, he knew that maybe the universe and the stars were on his side.

“Well, Admiral, good to hear you too-” static filled the room, “my ship crashed and I’m in an unknown planet. Night fell but I can see the Halo of the… maybe Constellation four. Also, I went to search for help-” static, “but I got injured. I was able to patch myself up.”

“Are you bleeding?”

“Just a little, Hullum, but I’d prefer if you get me out of here,” Geoff answered.

“Well, I need you to follow Lieutenant Jenkins orders, okay? We can’t locate you and you may need to start the emergency location system,” Burnie commanded, hands still on the shoulders of his lieutenant.

“Well, Mrs. Jenkins,” Geoff said and Ryan noticed Ashley giggling softly at Geoff’s tone. “I know how to start the procedure, but-” static, “I’ll like you to clarify me some things before we start.” Ashley ran through the instructions quickly, reminding the Captain what he had to do, before Geoff spoke again to her. “Can you please do me a favor, Jenkins?”

“Anything you need, Captain,” she answered.

“Pass me over Lieutenant Haywood, would you? I’ll start the emergency system while we talk.”

The Hunters looked over Ryan and noticed his surprised expression. Ryan took a deep breath before pressing the contact button. “Come in Captain, this Lieutenant Haywood speaking.”

“I know,” was all Geoff answered and Ryan couldn’t help but smile. “Now, where the emergency panel is?”

“Left side, under the control panel, Captain.”

“Right, right… You sound awful, Haywood.”

“Well, not a few minutes ago I thought I wasn’t going to see our Captain again.”

“Well, about that-,” Geoff shut himself up and muttered something about the system, before talking again with Ryan. “You ain’t going to get rid of me that easy, Haywood.”

Ryan had to bite his inner cheeks to stop himself for smiling like an idiot to the console.  “Tell me something I didn’t know, Ramsey.”

Suddenly, the table were Burnie and Matt were talking earlier illuminated, showing the map with the trajectory of Geoff’s ship, but this time, there was a small blinking dot on one of the planets. “Well, you didn’t know my position, so let me tell you that.”

Burnie and Barbara talked quietly, trying to find out which planet Geoff was, also with more information about it. Matt was talking with a few of the Roosters and Hunters, ordering them that they should get a few ships ready to part, along with enough equipment to treat the Captain’s wounds, in case they got worse.

Most of the room was now quiet and there was only a few people left. Ryan pressed the connection button once again, this time talking gently. “You broke your promise.”

“I did. I’m sorry about it.”

“This time it wasn’t your fault,” Ryan answered and Geoff chuckled at it, before ending up coughing and mumbling something over his breath. “Sure you’re fine?”

“I have been better.” They stayed in silence for a moment, before Geoff talked again. “Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“When I get there, the first thing I want to see it’s your handsome face.”

Ryan giggled and nodded. “I’d do my best.”

“Promise me, Haywood.”

“I promise, Captain-”

Ryan suddenly felt his shoulder getting heavier and when he noticed, he saw Burnie’s hand pressing on his shoulder. His face showed a hint of relief and Ryan felt somehow happy about it. “We have your coordinates, Ramsey. We’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay sweetie, drive safely. Tell the kids I love them.” Geoff answered, and Ryan had never been so thankful to _hear_ Geoff’s smile, but at the same time he felt a knot forming on his stomach because both of them (Geoff and Ryan) knew that the kids were the youngest, the lads. Ryan didn’t know if all the color from his face just fell because, oh god, how bad were Geoff’s injuries?

It seemed like Burnie caught what Geoff meant and tried to lighten his fellow’s mood. “Tell them yourself, but babe, don’t faint in my arms when I see you again,” and Burnie chuckled when he heard Geoff’s giggles, followed by a quick but abrupt silence.

“I’ll try my best.”

Ashley put the connection in hold and Ryan looked at Burnie, already getting up from his chair. “Come on, we have to get there as fast as we can, it seems he’s really injured and we can’t afford losing-”

“The Hunter aren’t coming, Haywood.”

Ryan froze, because, what? What did he said? They were his team, they were Geoff’s Hunters. “What do you mean the Hunters aren’t coming, Burnie? What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Look, I get you’re upset-”

“Of course I’m upset! We are his fucking team! We need to be there for him! We can’t just stay here sitting and waiting for you to come with a possible dead Captain in your arms!”

Then, the next thing Ryan’s mind registers, is that he’s walking in a hallway, Ashley following him in silence. Both of them were walking down to the room in which the other Hunters were. He was still upset because Burnie had to leave without the Hunters, and what upset him the most was that he had his reasons.

They weren’t the exact group to be on a recovery; they didn’t have enough permissions, along their rank was a very low one. They didn’t know how to treat wounds like Geoff’s; Jack and Michael knew the basics, but it wasn’t the best in this kind of situation. They didn’t know anything about this planet; Ryan watched the Spartans walking up the ship, along with some medical equipment and another people.

They had the right to be present in the recovery because they were on Geoff’s team, but at the same time, if they wanted the best for his Captain, they had to do what Burnie told them.

They had to wait.

Before entering the room, Ashley told Ryan that his captain was in good hands. Ryan looked at her and nodded, feeling the younger woman’s hand on his hair, patting it softly. Both of them had become friends when Ryan was stationed on the Roosters base, after he was injured and Ashley was the one who sat with him talking and sharing stories.

“Thanks, Ash,” he muttered a response and Ashley only nodded before opening the door.

“Ryan!” He heard Gavin calling him, before launching himself into the older man’s arms. Ryan couldn’t do anything else than return the hug and caress Gavin’s hair, feeling the boy’s nose pressing on his neck.

“It’s fine, Gav.” Ryan said, trying to convince himself along the way.

“What do you mean that’s it’s fine?” He heard Michael’s angry voice. He looked up and saw Ray and Jack sitting together, while Michael was walking angrily around the room. “They think they can put us in a room with a lovely view and we won’t do anything about the situation?”

Lindsay was about to open his mouth but Ryan answered a “Yes” before anyone could even blink. Everyone was in silence and everything you could hear was Ryan shushing Gavin and letting the younger man sit on a chair close to him.

“What do you mean with yes? Are you going to stay here with your arms crossed, Ryan?” Michael almost yelled at him, Jeremy’s and Matt’s hands holding his wrists because they knew it was very possible that Michael would punch Ryan without thinking it twice.

“If we want the best for Geoff, yes-”

“The best? Yeah, sure, a few Spartans would make him feel like home! And let me tell you, I’m pretty sure that if your _boyfriend_ dies in Burnie’s arms, you wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye, Hay-”

“Listen up, Private-”

“Oh, are you pulling rank on me? What a coward-”

“Michael,” Ryan said, and Michael had to shut his mouth because it was like if Ryan had just spited venom out of his. “We are not the right people for an recovery: we don’t know how the protocol works, we don’t know what we are confronting in that planet, we don’t know how bad is he injured and if it’s bad enough we can do anything, what are we going to do? Wait for another ship to come and help him?

“I’d prefer not say goodbye than watch him die in my arms, because if, once again, I have to live with the memory of the person I love dying over and over because of my mistakes… you know? I’ll probably kill myself.” Ryan dropped on a chair next to the window, looking out of it and trying to calm himself down. “If waiting if the best we can do, we will wait, okay?”

“Okay,” Michael replied, sitting next to Lindsay, both of them intertwining their fingers.

The Hunters stayed in silence, the only sound in the room being and the roaring of the station’s engines.

“There we go,” Ashley broke the uncomfortable silence with her voice, and suddenly, the room filled with voices. Ryan looked at her with a confused expression and but it was when actual words were spoken that he understood what she had done.

“We’ll be entering Sigma’s atmosphere in eight, sir,” they heard a muffled voice, as if the man who was talking had a helmet on. “The radar doesn’t detect any abnormalities and it should be a smooth landing.”

“Keep me informed, private,” and all of them knew that voice: Burnie’s.

“You fucking hacked the ship’s radio,” Kdin said, looking at the woman with wide eyes. “That’s illegal.”

“Do you want to know about your captain or you’ll like to be sitting here in silence knowing anything?” She asked, smile on her face, before shrugging. “Also, no one has to know about this.”

“Thank you,” Michael muttered, his words filled with honesty. 

For the next minutes, they stayed there, sitting down in the silvery room, hearing Burnie’s voices giving commands and looking outside their window, waiting for the best.

“Sir, Captain Ramsey is trying to make contact with us,” one of the man announced, and Ryan thought he could hear everyone in the room taking a deep breath.

“Come in Captain, is something wrong?” Burnie asked.

“You better hurry,” Geoff coughed, “they’re coming to the ship-” static “and they sound pissed.”

“How long until they get to you?” Burnie asked, and the Hunters could hear him muttering something to the pilot. Gavin and Lindsay shared worried looks. “Captain? Ramsey.”

They heard more static until Geoff’s voice echoed in the room. “Maybe a few minutes, so hurry the fuck up.” Burnie cut the transmission harshly and started giving orders to the Spartans who were in there with him.

Jack felt Caiti’s hand slip again of his and he noticed her wife walking towards Ryan, kneeling in front of him. Caiti took the man’s hands and held them tight between hers. Jack observed her light blue skin shining under the artificial lights hanging from the ceiling and, even between the Spartans and Burnie’s voices on the speakers, they could hear her voice clearly.

“Univers i Estrelles, si us plau, protegir els nostres éssers estimats de les mans dels enemics,” she mumbled, one finger drawing letters over Ryan’s palm.

It wasn’t strange for Caiti to do this: she was from another race, a race that you couldn’t mess with, and they took their traditions seriously. Before they all left to the Hunters Outpost, she blessed them with the light of the universe, kissing each one of their foreheads and wishing them good look on their journey; so seeing her doing her little ritual wasn’t something out of the ordinary.

Somehow, the room felt a lot calmer than before, maybe because her voice was soothing and just observing both of them was hypnotizing: they had their eyes closed, but it seemed as if they were looking at each other. “Guia esperança i l'amor per an ells en els moments més difícils,” she said, her voice drowning all the others coming from the speakers. “Protegeix-nos.”

“Protegir-los,” Ryan answered to her, his accent rough. She napped her eyes open, surprised by the man’s answer. “Gràcies, Caiti.” He kissed the fingers that trailed letters into his palm, and Caiti only responded with a soft nod, replying that he needed to hear those words. “I did.”

“Willems?” They heard, loud and clear, Burnie’s voice, calling one of his soldiers.

“We got him, sir,” she replied. Ashley actually expected the Hunters to get up and celebrated, because they got their Captain! It was supposed to be a happy moment, but of course, they knew something else was coming and they just waited. “Captain Ramsey’s unconscious and there’s- whoa, there’s a _lot_ of blood.”

“How long until they get him to the ship?” Burnie asked, and even if Gavin couldn’t see him, he could imagine the man rubbing his face. “Willems!”

“Sir, we need to stabilize him,” she answered, “at least seven minutes.”

“Sure?” He asked, and when Burnie received confirmation, he sighed. “Goblet Team, keep your position until Captain Ramsey’s loaded on the ship, understood? Stay focused and kept an eye on your surroundings.”

After a few minutes of a tense silence, they heard Willems’ voice once again. “Sir, we are ready to move Captain Ramsey out of here,” but at the same time, another transmission interrupted her.

“Goblet two here, sir; the enemy’s coming in fast. We need to move _now_.”

“Willems, start moving Captain Ramsey to the ship. Goblet one to four, escort the medical team to the ship as fast as you can. Goblet five to eight, stop the enemies at all cost.”

The silence that filled the room was heavy, and Michael could feel his shoulders getting heavier as the time passed by and no sound came to the radio.

“Captain Ramsey is here, Goblets, come back to the ship,” Burnie ordered. After hearing the pilot announcing their takeoff, Burnie talked once again. “How long?”

“Less than twenty, sir.”

“Good. Thank you, Private.”

Then, all the static and all the sound that filled the room once, stopped, and everyone in the room turned their heads to Ashley, who was standing in front of the computer. “I had to stop it before they noticed someone hacked into their radio, sorry.”

“No,” Ray said, looking at her. “Thank you.”

“A soldier will be here soon to take you to the infirmary once everything is settled down,” she walked next to Ryan and kissed the man’s temple. Without saying anything, she bowed softly at the Hunters and she exited the room, leaving them in silence.

+

“Que les estrelles i l'univers tinguin cura de les ànimes dels ferits...”

Geoff came back from the darkness to hear a voice mumbling in a different language: he was still tired and everything still hurt, but he was conscious enough to identify the voice of the person that was sitting next to him. Geoff knew that another pair of hands were wrapping his own, making them feel warm, and then, he felt a finger following the ink that was decorating his arms.

“...i que els protegeixi de tota la foscor que hi hagi en els seus cors…”

Geoff opened his eyes slowly, blinking several times before actually focusing on the ceiling, noticing the dark room around him. It wasn’t the first time he had woken up, but it was the first time the room had been so dark, besides the universe’s light coming through the window.

“…dóna'ls llum i esperança, i porta'ls de tornada a casa seva. Protegeix-nos-”

“Protegir-los,” Geoff answered, his voice rough and tiredness appearing on his words. Ryan looked up and gasped, not expecting him to be awake at this hour.

Both of them stared at each other, and it was Ryan who finally looked away and asked him “How are you feeling?” Geoff shifted on the bed, and groaned softly, before answering.

“You broke your promise.”

Ryan looked down at their hands. “We should stop promising each other things.” Ryan cleared his throat, feeling a knot forming on his chest. “Want water?”

Geoff shook his head and observed Ryan for a while, his eyes memorizing his features: his eyes, his nose, that awful yet gorgeous scar that had marked Ryan’s cheek and part of his nose. “You know Lambda’s language.”

“I know a lot of things.”

“Now you’re just being an asshole,” and with that, Ryan left out a soft laugh, something that Geoff thought he wouldn’t be hearing once again. “You weren’t here earlier with Burnie, as I expected.”

“I wasn’t.”

“And you got into a discussion with Michael.”

“We’re okay now.” Ryan looked up at his Captain, a small but warm smile on his face.

Geoff didn’t say anything for a while, and just looked at Ryan. “I love you.” Ryan froze and looked at Geoff in silence, while the other was just smiling lazily at him.

The last time they said those words was when their outpost was attacked, almost a year ago, and those three words were just breathtaking every time they remembered them. Ryan himself unable to breath easily, looking away from Geoff, smile appearing on his face but his bottom lip quivering.

“I hate you so much,” the lieutenant said with an amused yet broken voice, his hands holding Geoff’s strongly, and with no desire of letting them go.  Ryan started laughing but Geoff could see the man’s tears falling down his cheeks. “I hate you, I-I just-”

“Ryan.” Geoff called, and moved his hand to the man’s nape, caressing softly his hair. “Come here,” and before they knew it, Ryan was wrapping his arms around Geoff as carefully as he could, trying not to look desperate about wanting to touch Geoff, but he only wanted acknowledge that he was there, alive.

“I love you too,” he answered, feeling Geoff’s hands caressing his hair and giving him gentle kisses on the side of his face. “I love you so much.”

“I know.”

“Now you’re being a jerk,” Ryan laughed, and Geoff smiled because it was that rich and deep laugh that he adored. Ryan moved back but Geoff stopped him, moving him closer and pressing their foreheads together, and both of them couldn’t stop the smile that was appearing on their faces. He noticed his captain’s sleepy smile and Ryan just caressed his hair. “Go back to sleep.”

“When I wake up, your handsome face would be the first thing that I see?” Geoff asked, humming to himself with a smile on his face.

“You should stop saying that,” Ryan commented, “but yeah, don’t worry.”

“Your face is handsome, why should I stop saying that?”

“Go to sleep,” Ryan replied with an amused tone. The older man chuckled softly and squeezed Ryan’s hand, before drifting into what it could be the most peaceful sleep he had in a long time.

+

“Are you still excited, Ryan? Of going back home.”

Home.

Ryan looked at Michael, who was looking at Lindsay while playing with the black ring on his finger. He looked away from them to find Geoff sitting on a chair close to the exit, facing the window, but his eyes were closed and his arms crossed over his chest.

“I am more than excited now, Michael,” Ryan answered, bumping softly the younger’s shoulder. Both of them smiled, and for the first time, it seemed like they returned to their old selves (because maybe they apologized with each other, but that didn’t mean the awkwardness wasn’t there after that.)

“When you said that if you had to see, once again, someone you love die, what did you mean?” Michael asked, not expecting an answer from Ryan and after a few minutes of silence, Michael knew that the Lieutenant wasn’t going to say anything.

“I fell in love with someone in Lambda,” he replied. It seemed like everyone in the ship heard the quiet words that Ryan said, and even Geoff was looking at him.

“You knew Lambda?” Caiti asked, her eyes bright and her face lighting up.

“My parents moved there, trying to search for peace in times of war. I grew up in a small yet beautiful town and I learned everything, as if I was one of them,” Ryan looked at Caiti and then at Michael. “Then I fell in love with this Lambdette, she was gorgeous and I couldn’t believe my luck to meet such an amazing being.”

“What happened with her?” Gavin asked, looking curiously at the lieutenant.

“We were the first town to be attacked: no one knew nothing and the Capitol noticed far too late. I thought I was doing the best and I lead her to her own death without knowing… then she was murdered in front of me. After that, I joined the UNSC because I wanted this war to finish as soon as possible.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ray muttered, looking at him sadly.

Ryan smiled. “It’s okay. I’m pretty sure the Universe is treating her like a queen.”

It wasn’t long until they reached the Constellation 81, landing safely in what it would be their new home: a new start. Geoff took Ryan’s hand when they stepped out of the ship. “What happened next?” The Captain asked, leaning closer to his Lieutenant.

Ryan laughed softly and looked at him. “I was assigned to an outpost, and I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful man and his team,” he answered.

“Aw, don’t you think I’m gorgeous?”

“Shut the fuck, Ramsey,” he laughed and pulled Geoff. “Let’s go home.”

 Home.

Finally.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Lambda is not a real race from Halo, is inspired on the Asari race of Mass Effect, and Sigma is not the canon planet that already exist on that universe.
> 
> Also, the Lambda language is actually catalan (catalán), which it's one of the languages people use in Catalonia (Cataluña), Spain. If you're curious about what the phareses meant, you can [click here!](http://notepad.cc/share/s0epsTrEms)
> 
>  
> 
> Also, on [tumblr.](http://speaksarcastically.tumblr.com) ♥


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